A Little Somethin'Somethin
by labgeekluvr
Summary: Danny gets a mysterious phone call that brings to mind and old case and his beloved Montana. Could someone be playing a trick on him?
1. Chapter 1

Title: A Little Somethin'-Somethin'

Time: inspired by "Live and Let Die", after "The Lying Game"

Rating: T

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, all belong to the writers of CBS and CSI: New York

Danny was on the subway, heading to work, when his cellphone rang. He looked at the caller id, but the number was not familiar. He answered anyway.

"Messer," he said into the phone.

"Your cat's in my garden," a female voice on the other end said.

"Excuse me?" Danny said, not believing what he was hearing.

"Your cat's in my garden," the voice repeated.

"Who is this?" Danny asked, somewhat intrigued, but also a little creeped out.

"Just a friend," The voice replied. Danny thought the voice sounded a little familiar, but thought it couldn't be who the voice sounded like. She wouldn't make phone calls like this. Not Lindsay.

"Montana, is that you?" Danny asked impatiently.

"Who's Montana?" The voice asked.

"Alright, Montana, give it up. I know it's you," Danny said, slightly agitated.

"Is Montana your girlfriend?" the voice asked. Now Danny was really agitated and confused.

"Alright, I'll play along. She's not my girlfriend, but I was kinda hopin' she'd be. She's skipped town though, went back to Montana. She didn't say why," Danny said, growing sadder as his explanation went on.

"Sounds like she was pretty special," the voice said.

"She was...is," Danny said.

"And it sounds like your lonely," the voice cooed.

Danny wasn't sure how much longer he wanted to continue this game. "Yeah, I miss her," he said.

"Maybe I can ease your loneliness. Would you like that?" The voice asked.

"I dunno. I mean, I'm not even sure who you are. You sound like Montana, but I can't imagine her making phone calls like this. And the fact that you started this conversation with the whole thing about my cat being in your garden is a little disturbing. The last girl who used that in a phone conversation ended up dead," Danny explained.

"C'mon, I know deep down how lonely you are. I can hear it in your voice," the voice said softly. "I can help that to disappear, if you want."

Danny was admittedly becoming hooked by the voice on the other end. But he knew being on the subway he wouldn't be able to talk for long. "Unfortunately, doll, I'm going to have to cut this short. I'm on a subway and there's a tunnel coming up soon," Danny explained.

"I see. Well then, we'll have to continue our conversation another time. Goodbye for now," the voice said, breaking the connection. Danny shook his head in disbelief, staring at his phone as the train entered the tunnel.

Danny arrived at CSI headquarters and spotted Stella heading towards the lab.

"Good morning, Stella dear," he smiled.

"Good morning, Danny dear," she smiled back. She noticed he looked a little apprehensive. "What's up with you? You've got this strange look on your face."

Danny paused for a moment. "Stella, do you remember a case that you and Lindsay had a while back with a girl who stole some business cards from a fishbowl and started making phone sex calls to them–the girl later ended up dead."

"Yeah, I remember her," Stella said. "That was an interesting case. Why do you ask?"

"I think someone's playing a practical joke on me. I got a phone call from a mysterious woman this morning, and our conversation started off with 'your cat's in my garden'," Danny explained.

"'Your cat's in my garden'? That's the phrase that girl used," Stella remarked.

"Exactly, which is why it creeped me out a little. At first I thought it might have been Lindsay, because the woman's voice sounded like hers..." Danny started.

"Yeah, but I can't imagine Lindsay making a phone call like that, not even to you," Stella joked.

"Thanks," Danny said sarcastically. "But, no really, I was thinking the same thing. Did this girl have a sister or somethin'? Somebody close who might be starting up this nonsens again?"

"I don't remember a sister, but it might be worth checking out to make sure," Stella said. "I'll look into it."

"Thanks. Stel," Danny said, heading off to find Mac to get his assignment.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Title: A Little Somethin'-Somethin', chapter 2

Danny and Stella were called to the scene of a murder in an upscale townhouse in mid-town Manhattan.

"DB's name is Charles Cooper, age 37," Danny said. "Apparent cause of death blunt-force trauma to the head. Here's his wallet." He handed the wallet to Stella, who had a strange look on her face.

"Something about that name seems very familiar," Stella said.

"You know how many Charles Coopers there could be in New York, in Manhattan alone?" Danny asked.

"He even looks familiar," Stella said. She looked through his wallet, pulling out his business card. "Danny, I've seen this business card before. Charles Cooper...now I remember. He was a person of interest in the Lillian Stanwick case. She took his business card..."

"And called him with the 'your cat's in my garden' routine," Danny said. "Well, that's an interesting coincidence."

"What is?" Stella asked.

"Well, the phone call I received this morning, and then finding one of Lillian Stanwick's boyfriends dead," Danny said.

"Lillian Stanwick was murdered, Danny. I think that rules her out as a murder suspect," Stella smiled.

"I know that. I'm just saying, it's odd that's all," Danny said, puzzled.

"I think you're reading too much into it. It could be someone just playing a prank on you," Stella said.

"Well, it's beginning to lose its charm real fast. I just better not be next on our killer's list," Danny said.

Danny and Stella finished processing the crime scene and took the evidence back to the lab. Danny was processing a hair found at the scene. It was a long dark hair with skin flakes attached. Danny processed the DNA and found a match to someone already in the system–Lillian Stanwick. Stella walked into the lab just as Danny was getting the results report.

"Stella, check this out. The hair we found at the scene–the DNA has seven alleles in common with our lady Lillian Stanwick. DNA is female. So we could be looking at a sister," Danny said.

"Anything under the victim's nails to match? Skin attached to the hair indicates there may have been a struggle," Stella said.

"Nothing under Cooper's nails. And as far as the skin found on the hair, it was more indicative of dandruff than of a struggle," Danny said.

"Well, it gave us DNA. We'll know more when find out who and where she is so we can talk to her," Stella said. Suddenly her cellphone rang. "Bonasera. Another DB mid-town? Blunt-force trauma to the head? I'll be right there." She hung up her phone. "That was Detective Flack, we've got another dead guy, similar MO. Coming?"

"I'll meet you there, I want to clean this stuff up first," Danny said.

"Fair enough, I'll let Flack know you're coming," Stella said as she headed out.

Danny put away the evidence he had been processing. As he was heading out the door his cellphone rang. Again it was an unfamiliar number. Danny let it ring a couple times, but then he finally answered with a hesitant "Hello?"

"You're cat's in my garden," the female voice on the other end replied.

"You know, Montana, or whoever you are, this isn't funny anymore. I'm in the middle of a murder investigation," Danny said, irritated.

"Oooh, sounds intense. Tell me more," the voice continued.

"Look, unless I'm sure you're Montana, which I'm pretty sure you're not, I'm not telling you anything. That would jeopardize the investigation," Danny snapped.

"I could be anything you want me to be. Talk to me, Danny," the voice cooed.

Danny was struck by hearing her use his name. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Who do you want me to be?" the voice asked softly.

"I don't have time for this. I'm on my way to a crime scene," Danny shouted.

"We'll talk again soon, when you're not quite so busy," the voice said.

"Montana, Montana wait..." Danny replied, but the phone had gone dead. Danny hung up the phone, shaking his head. "Why am I doing this? I'm not even sure it's her," he said to himself. He looked up the number in his received calls log. He didn't recognize the number at all. He shook his head, put his phone in its holder on his belt and headed off to meet Stella. "No time to look it up now," he said.

Danny met Stella and Flack at the crime scene. Stella had a worried look on her face.

"What, you recognize this one too?" Danny asked her.

"Vic's name is Will Graham. He also was one of Lillian Stanwick's friends," Stella said.

"Now this is really getting scary," Danny said.

"Scary, why?" Stella asked. "Did you get another phone call?"

"Danny's getting phone calls? Since when?" Flack joked.

"Nice," Danny sneered at Flack, then turned to Stella. "Yeah, I got another phone call just as I was leaving the lab."

"What sort of phone call?" Flack asked.

"I'm not sure I wanna tell you after that smart remark," Danny quipped.

"If you think it pertains to this case, I'd better hear about it," Flack said, not smiling.

"Earlier this morning on the train I got a phone call from a woman who I swear sounded like Montana, but she started our conversation with the whole 'your cat's in my garden' thing," Danny explained.

"Like Lillian Stanwick," Flack said.

"Yeah," Danny said. "We talked for a bit, and the more we talked, the more she sounded like Montana, but I kept thinking Montana wouldn't pull something like this."

"I dunno Danny, she was kinda crazy about you. How do you know it isn't her?" Flack said.

"Well, it wasn't Lindsay's number. It was a 212 area code, but the number was different. I'll show you," Danny said, pulling out his cellphone. "This is Lindsay's number, which you both know," he said. Then he pulled up his call log. He paused for a moment. "Now wait a minute, I didn't notice this before. There's two numbers here."

"Two numbers? What do you think that means?" Stella asked.

"Why don't you call those numbers and see if anyone answers?" Flack answered.

"Let me call Lindsay's number first," he said. He dialed the number he had for Lindsay, but got a message saying that number was no longer in service. "That's odd, Lindsay's number isn't in service anymore."

"Maybe her minutes ran out and she had to reprogram her phone," Stella said.

"It's possible. Let's try these other two," Danny said. He tried both numbers, and each time he got the generic default "Please leave a message" greeting with no indication of who the phone belonged to. "Generic default greetings on both numbers, so I have no idea who's calling me."

"Get a trace put on your phone. The next time the catwoman calls we'll know for sure whether it's Lindsay or not," Flack said.

"In the meantime, we've got a crime scene to process," Stella said.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: A Little Somethin'-Somethin', chapter 3

Danny and Stella were in the middle of processing evidence from Will Graham's murder when they got a call for a third DB in midtown manhattan, same modus operendi, victim's name was Dwayne Gessner.

"We've definitely got a serial on our hands," Danny said. "What do all these vics have in common?"

"Lillian Stanwick," Stella said. "She called all three of these men and had phone sex with them."

"Remind me, did it ever get beyond the phone call with any of them?" Danny asked.

"Only with our first vic, Charles Cooper," Stella said.

Danny observed the body. "Blunt-force trauma. Same shaped wound as the other two vics. Looks like it might be cylindrical, like from a lead pipe or something," Danny said. He noticed some paint in the wound and pulled it out with tweezers. "Got some trace here," he said.

"Danny, I've got a cellphone. Maybe our killer called our vic before he was killed. What are the two numbers on your cellphone from your mystery callers?" Stella asked. Danny pulled out his cellphone and read off the two numbers. "I've got a number in this call log that matches your second caller. It's a good thing we put a trace on your phone."

"I don't remember seeing a cellphone with either of the other two vics personal effects,

Danny said.

"Which means either the killer took it..." Stella started.

"Or it's still at the crime scene. I'll start with Will Graham's, since that was the most recent," Danny said.

"Alright, be careful though. If our killer realizes she left a cellphone behind she might be back to grab it," Stella said.

"Don't worry, I've got eyes on the back of my head," Danny smiled as he left.

Stella took the evidence back to the crime lab and began processing it. She looked up Lillian Stanwick's profile and learned that she did in fact have a younger sister, Vivian. As she continued to process the evidence her cellphone rang. She looked at the number. It had a New York area code but was unfamiliar to her. She answered it.

"Bonasera," Stella said.

"Hey, Stella, it's Lindsay," a familiar voice said.

"Hey, Lindsay, how's it going? How did the trial go?" Stella asked.

"I haven't been called to testify yet, so it's going to be a while. How are things with you?" Lindsay asked.

"Kinda crazy. Remember the Lillian Stanwick case?" Stella asked.

"The 'my cat's in your garden case'? Yeah, why?" Lindsay asked.

"There's a killing spree going on related to that case. Three of Lillian Stanwick's boyfriends are now dead. And Danny's been getting mysterious phone calls from a woman doing the whole "your cat's in my garden" routine," Stella said.

"Oh, that was just me, I was just joking with him," Lindsay said.

"He said he didn't recognize your number," Stella said.

"My minutes ran out and I had to reprogram my phone," Linday said.

"How many times did you call Danny?" Stella asked.

"Only once. Why all the questions, it was just a joke?" Lindsay asked.

"Unfortunately, your timing wasn't the best. There's another woman who called him using the same routine, and she may be our killer," Stella said.

"Gosh, I'm sorry. Any idea who this woman is?" Lindsay asked.

"Someone related to Lillian Stanwick, very possibly her sister Vivian," Stella said.

"Where's Danny now?" Lindsay asked.

"He's at one of the crime scenes, looking for some evidence we might have missed," Stella asked.

"I'm going to call him quick and let him know the other caller was me, so he doesn't flip out," Lindsay said.

"Sounds good. I 'll talk to you soon. Good luck with the trial," Stella said.

"Thanks. Take care," Lindsay said. She hung up and dialed Danny's number. Danny looked at the number, recognizing it as one of the two strange ones, but knowing it wasn't the killer, so he answered it. "Messer," he said.

"Hey Danny, it's Lindsay," she said.

"Funny, I was expecting to hear 'your cat's in my garden'," Danny joked.

"Sorry about that. I was just messing with you. If I had any idea that you'd be in the middle of another case related to Lillan Stanwick I never would have pulled something like that," Lindsay said.

"No problem. I'm just glad it's you I'm talking to right now and not our killer," Danny said. "How are things in Montana?"

"Things are going slow at the moment. I'm sorry I didn't get to explain to you why I left. It's pretty complicated," Lindsay said.

"You know you can tell me anything, Montana," Danny said wistfully.

"I appreciate that, Danny," Lindsay said. "Well, I've gotta go, and I'm sure you've got things to do. Just be careful okay?"

"Will do," Danny said. "Take care of yourself, Montana."

"I will, bye-bye," she said.

Danny hung up the phone and resumed looking around the room for the missing cellphone. He spotted an object peeking out from under an overstuffed chair. He went over and picked it up–it was a cellphone. He looked up the call log, and there was the other unfamiliar number, the one belonging to the killer. Suddenly his cellphone began to ring. He took it off his belt and checked the number–it was the second unfamiliar number. He knew he had to answer in order for it to be traced. He nervously cleared his throat and answered it. "Messer," he said.

"Your cat's in my garden," the voice said.

"I know who you are, so you can stop this little game you're playing," Danny said.

"Oh no, my dear, the game is just beginning," the voice said. The phone suddenly went dead. Danny heard a noise behind him, like a closet door opening. He pulled his gun and turned around, just as something was coming at his head. He managed to duck, but the pipe came down on his shoulder, causing him to drop his gun and to fall to his knees. The gun slid away from Danny, right in front of the person who had struck him with the pipe. She picked up the gun and pointed it at Danny.

"Here, kitty-kitty," she sneered.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: A Little Somethin'-Somethin', chapter 4

"You must be Vivian," Danny said to the woman holding him at gunpoint.

"Stand up," she said. "Hand me that cellphone," she demanded. He handed it to her without a word. "Yours too," she said. He breated a heavy sigh and handed her his phone. "Move over there, against the wall." He did as she told him. He noticed she was dressed in a CSI jacket and ballcap.

"You're in uniform. Are you a trainee?" he asked.

"Uniform's easy enough to pick up online," she replied.

"The second time you called me, you called me Danny. How did you know my name when I didn't identify myself?" Danny asked.

"Not too bright, is he?" Vivian sneered. "Why do you think I'm wearing this uniform? I was there at the crime scene, genius. How do you think I managed to nab Cooper's cellphone before one of you guys got it?"

"But you didn't get Dwayne Gessner's. Or Will Graham's until now," Danny smirked.

"I couldn't be two places at once. I figured I'd come back here, grab Graham's phone and take my chances. But now that you're here, I can use you as leverage to get Gessner's phone, and any other evidence you've got against me," she said, moving closer to him.

"Why did you call me in the first place? I didn't work your sister's case, that was Stella and..." Danny started.

"Lindsay Monroe, or 'Montana' as you call her," Vivian interrupted. "Lindsay actually gave me the idea, although I didn't know it was Lindsay at the time until now. I figured maybe I'd just kill off the men who led my sister to her death and be done with it. But once I overheard about your little mysterious phone call," she said, running her fingers across his face and neck seductively, "I thought I'd have a little fun. My sister's cat-in-your-garden routine I figured wouldn't work on Stella or Lindsay, but it would work on someone close to them," she said, reaching inside Danny's shirt, sliding her fingers over his chest, making him squirm. "Someone I could manipulate–like a cat playing with a mouse."

Danny grabbed her wrist. "Get your bloody hands off of me," he seethed.

She pointed the gun under his chin. "You like it rough, huh? I don't think you're tough enough to stand against a gun," she smiled, pressing herself against him. She pulled out his cellphone. "Call Stella. Tell her to bring all the evidence with her and meet me here, or you're dead."

"No need, Danny, I'm right here," Stella said. Danny looked and there was Stella and Flack, pointing their guns at Vivian.

"Drop your weapon and release Detective Messer, now," Flack said emphatically. Vivian defiantly stood with her gun pressed under Danny's chin.

"I could blow his head off right now!" Vivian shouted.

"You don't wanna do that, Viv. Just let him go. He's done nothing to hurt you," Flack said, moving closer.

"He's no different than those men Lillian was with. They're all the same. Turned on by a woman they don't even know, haven't even seen." She thought for a moment. "Their brains aren't in their heads, they're somewhere else, aren't they?" she asked Danny menacingly, moving the gun away from his chin and aiming it between his legs. Danny pushed back against the wall but couldn't move.

"Flack, do something. She's gonna hurt me somethin' bad, here," Danny gasped.

"We won't let that happen, Danno," he said. "Miss, put the gun on the floor now. You're outnumbered here. Do as I say," Flack said.

He and Stella edged closer to where Vivian held Danny pinned against the wall. Danny shut his eyes tight as he saw Flack reach for Vivian's arm, the arm that held the gun. Only when he felt her being dragged away from him did he open his eyes and slide down the wall to the floor, burying his head in his hands. Stella stooped down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. "You're okay now, we've got her," she said reassuringly.

Danny lifted his head. "Yeah," he said. "That was close, wasn't it?" he said, smiling shakily.

Flack came over with Danny's gun and cellphone. "Here, you'll be wanting these back," he said. "You okay, Messer?"

"Yeah, thanks to you guys," Danny said. "Thankfully you showed up when you did."

"Thankfully you had that trace put on your phone," Flack said. "We knew the first call was Lindsay, because she had called Stella earlier. When the second call came in we knew it was the killer. It wasn't long enough for a trace, but we knew you were here so we figured we'd come by and make sure you were safe."

"Well, I'm glad you did, 'cause if you hadn't I'd either be dead, or singing soprano," he smiled. Stella and Flack laughed.

"Let's get you outta here," Stella said.

"I'm starvin'. How 'bout we head over to Ray's for a pizza–my treat," Flack said.

"Ray's sound real good right now," Danny said. Flack clapped him on the shoulder and Stella wrapped her arm supportively around her partner's waist as they headed out.


End file.
